


Under the Skin

by ATTHS_TWICE



Series: A Year of Prompts [8]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Holding Hands, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Love, Protectiveness, Season/Series 06, Secret Relationship, Stabbing, Tattoos, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 14:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30140820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATTHS_TWICE/pseuds/ATTHS_TWICE
Summary: Mulder is injured during a sting operation. While tending to his injuries, Scully inadvertently reveals something to their fellow agents.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Series: A Year of Prompts [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090493
Comments: 12
Kudos: 125





	Under the Skin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kishamaweezy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kishamaweezy/gifts).



> This was asked for by Kisha. I loved the idea of it and it’s intrigued me since she requested it. 
> 
> That’s all you get... 😉
> 
> Hope you enjoy it! ❤️

It happened so fast, no one could have stopped it. 

An abandoned warehouse, the location of a possible traveling cult, the man who called himself Reverend Pure was surrounded. Tension was high, as a swarm of guns were drawn on him. Instructions were shouted and he appeared to be surrendering, his hands up as he began to kneel, when he suddenly lunged at Mulder, slashing at him with a knife he'd hidden up his sleeve. 

Mulder cried out as blood soaked his white dress shirt and gunshots sounded, the suspect and Mulder both falling to the ground. As they did, Scully ran to Mulder, other agents surrounding the suspect, still shouting as the shocking image of him being cut replayed in Scully’s mind. 

“You’re okay,” she said, dropping her weapon and pulling hard at his shirt and ripping it open. His tie lay by his throat as buttons flew everywhere, his chest exposed as she tried to gauge the cut through the massive amounts of blood. “It’s… it’s not too deep. You’re okay.” 

“Jesus Christ.” She heard over her shoulder as Skinner walked up and she glanced up at him. 

“I need some towels or something to stop the bleeding,” she said to him, pressing her bare hands into the cut in Mulder’s abdomen as he breathed deeply, moaning in pain. “Quickly, please.”

“Right. Right.” Skinner disappeared and Scully bit her lip, feeling nauseous from the sticky warmth of Mulder’s blood between her fingers. 

“Scully,” he breathed, his hand gripping her wrist. 

“It’s okay. I’ve got you. There’s an ambulance on the way. Shhh, it’s okay.” 

“Agent Scully. Here.” She looked up and saw Agent Fowley handing her a gray t-shirt she had found somewhere. Scully grabbed it and pressed to Mulder’s abdomen as he closed his eyes and groaned at the pressure, his hand dropping from her wrist. 

“You’re okay, Fox,” Agent Fowley said, kneeling beside him and touching his hair before pulling her hand away as though she had been burned. She glanced at his chest and then at Scully, her eyes hard, before standing up quickly and walking away. 

“Agent Scully, here’s all I could find,” Skinner said as he walked back, a couple of towels in his hand. “Ambulance is just a few minutes out.” Scully took them from him, Mulder’s blood on her hands staining the towels, as she added it to the shirt already becoming dark with his blood. 

Skinner caught her eye and she shook her head once, her mouth closed as she pressed harder and Mulder moaned again. Skinner knelt down and looked around at the chaos in the room, Scully’s attention remaining only on Mulder. 

“They found the other people, got to them in time. Your theory was right, Mulder,” Skinner said looking down at him and Mulder nodded slightly. 

“Safe?” Mulder breathed. 

“Safe,” Skinner assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. As Scully watched Mulder nod again, her heart stopped for a few beats as her eyes landed on Skinner’s hand on Mulder’s shoulder. Quickly raising her eyes, Skinner nodded as he stood up and walked away to assist the other agents and victims. 

“Shit,” she muttered, but her worry over what he may have seen would have to wait, her concern elsewhere. 

“Scully,” Mulder said weakly and she moved closer to his head, a hand still holding the towels to his wound. 

“Shhh… I’m here.” 

“It’s bad.” 

“It’s okay, Mulder. The ambulance will be here soon. I’ve slowed the bleeding.” 

“The kids… did they find them?” 

“Yes. They’re all safe, Mulder. It won’t be long now. You’re okay.” He slowly opened his eyes and focused on hers. He was pale and sweaty, a sure sign of shock. She bent her head close to his ear, whispering softly to him and he nodded, his eyes closing again. 

The ambulance arrived, the paramedics rushing into the room and attending to him. He was lifted onto the stretcher and with a nod to Skinner, she followed behind him, feeling Agent Fowley’s eyes on her back, now knowing what had caused her to walk away so quickly earlier. 

And she did not give two shits. 

______________

Hours later, her adrenaline finally slowing, she sat in a chair beside Mulder’s bed. The familiar sounds of the monitors beeping kept her alert, despite her exhaustion, as she watched Mulder’s chest rising and falling. He had been in surgery to repair the wound, and had only been back in his room for half an hour. She had waited until the doctors left to readjust his pillows and check on his wound herself. The bandage was quite large, but she knew that while it had bled a lot and was deep, the cut was not too long. 

Still, it would be a bit of recovery time and she knew how he would chafe about it once he was awake. He had been in recovery for an hour and on the way back to the room had fallen asleep, the drugs strong and his tolerance low when it came to narcotics. 

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” she whispered with a small smile, just as she had numerous times in the past. He always laughed and then inevitably fell asleep soon after, proving her point. 

The door opened behind her and she turned around, feeling immediately on edge as Agent Fowley stepped inside, her eyes on Mulder. Scully stood up and crossed her arms as she could almost hear Mulder’s voice telling her to be nice. 

“How is he?” Agent Fowley asked and Scully fought hard to not roll her eyes. 

“Surgery went well, same with recovery. He just needs to sleep off the meds.” Agent Fowley nodded, stepping closer to the bed, and without thought, Scully stepped to the side, blocking her from getting too close. She heard Agent Fowley exhale in disbelief and yet Scully remained steadfast. 

They stared at one another, Agent Fowley’s eyes taking her in from head to toe, but Scully did not flinch. She raised an eyebrow, knowing what Agent Fowley had seen and most likely wanted to confirm, possibly hoping Scully had not been in the room so she could do so. 

“The suspect was shot, but survived. The others are being treated and questioned, but thankfully there are no major injuries. Aside from Fox… Agent Mulder.” 

“Yes. Aside from him,” Scully said, her hackles rising as they always did when she heard Agent Fowley calling him _Fox_ with such ease and familiarity. 

“Well, he’ll probably be sleeping awhile. No need for you to wait around. I’m here.” She stared at Agent Fowley, not moving from her spot, her arms still crossed. 

“Agent Scully, I know you and I haven’t gotten off on the best foot-” Scully scoffed loudly and looked down, narrowly avoiding rolling her eyes and snapping back at her. 

_Calm, Scully._ She felt from Mulder, almost as though he had spoken out loud. Turning her head to be sure he had not, she saw he was still sleeping peacefully. Swinging her attention back to Agent Fowley, she raised her eyebrows, waiting for her to continue. 

“We both have Fox’s best interests at heart,” Agent Fowley said quietly and Scully drew in a deep breath, not believing a word she was saying. She did not trust her, no matter what Mulder had said, his trust in her unwavering. 

“I’m here. No reason for you to stay,” she stated again and Agent Fowley sighed with a final glance at Mulder, and walked out the door. 

_Bitch,_ Scully thought and let out the breath she had apparently been holding. 

“Scully…” Mulder said hoarsely and she turned around quickly, stepping closer to the bed. 

“Hey,” she whispered and his eyes opened slowly, focusing on her after a couple of tries. 

“What happened?” he asked slowly, his eyes closing again. 

“You were cut, slashed with a knife.” 

“Mmm… yeah, I remember now. Fuck… this hurts.” He groaned, reaching for his stomach but she stopped him, holding his hand in hers and staring at him. “How bad?” 

“Deep, but not long.” He moaned out a laugh and she shook her head with a small smile, his eyes cracking open. 

“There’s a joke in there… but I…” She stroked his hair and stared into his eyes, the smile still on her lips. 

“Tell me later. Though I’m pretty sure I know what you’ll say,” she said, letting out a sigh. He held her eyes and she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his gently. 

He hummed and she kissed him again, before pulling back and staring at him. He sighed and she moved her hand to his cheek, stroking softly and shaking her head. 

“I was so scared,” she whispered and he hummed again, attempting to adjust positions and wincing in pain. “Stop. Just lie still. You had surgery, not just stitches.” 

“So… worse than I thought.” 

“It was a serrated knife. It was deep.” 

“But not long,” he whispered and she exhaled, his eyes closing. “The joke keeps… slipping away.” 

“I got it,” she said with a smile, squeezing his hand. 

He hummed just as there was a knock at the door. His eyes struggled to open at the sound as she turned her head. Skinner stepped inside and smiled slightly when he saw that he was awake. 

“Agent Mulder. I’m glad to see you’re doing better.” 

“Can’t get rid of me that easily, Sir,” he slurred slightly, squeezing Scully’s hand weakly. 

“Nor would I want to,” Skinner responded softly, his eyes on Scully, who nodded at his unasked question: Mulder would be okay. 

“Should’ve been paying better attention,” Mulder said quietly and Skinner shook his head. 

“None of us saw it coming. You couldn’t have known.” Scully nodded at him and he nodded back. “You rest. Get your strength back.” 

“The other people… they’re okay?” 

“Yes. Thanks to you. They’re all alive and safe.” 

“Good.” 

Skinner nodded at Scully once more and left the room, the door closing softly behind him. 

“Are there… will there be any other visitors?” he asked tiredly and she turned to look at him. 

“No.”

“You think… or would it be unwise to ask that you lower the bedrail and join me in this truly uncomfortable bed?” She smiled and sighed, knowing how it would be perceived if she were to do that, as much as she may want to do it. 

“I think it may be a bit unwise, especially after today.” 

“What do you mean?” he breathed. 

“Well, aside from the obvious reason for you being here in the first place...” She touched his chest, just above his heart, her fingers tracing the letters that lay upon his skin beneath his gown. He stared at her and she nodded. 

“Who saw it?” 

“The paramedics, Skinner, a few other agents I’m sure… Diana.” His eyes widened as her fingers traced again and she waited to hear what he would say. 

“She couldn’t know for sure…” 

“Mulder, she’s not stupid. And Skinner would definitely know.” 

“As if he hasn’t been sweetening the office pool for years,” he said with a tired sigh. “He’s not stupid either.” 

“No… he’s not.” 

“Are you sorry they saw it? Embarrassed?” 

“No. Not at all. I just… forgot it was there in my haste to stop your bleeding. I wasn’t prepared for everyone to know.” 

“Hmm,” he hummed, his eyes closing, his left hand covering hers gently. “They already know, Scully. They just hadn’t seen the hard evidence, the proof you yourself always need to see.” He opened his eyes slowly and then closed them again. “Best decision I think I’ve ever made. I don’t care if they know.” He exhaled and then he was asleep, the medication and trauma of the day taking its toll on him. 

She smiled as his grip slackened and she gently moved his hand, not wanting it to slip suddenly and cause him to jump, jarring his injury. She stared at his chest and thought about the proof that had been uncovered today in front of so many others. Again, she traced the letters that she could not see, but knew were there below the worn cotton of his hospital gown, tattooed onto his flesh for all eternity. 

_DKS_

If others had been surprised today, it was nothing compared to how she had felt when she had seen it the first time. 

Coming to his apartment one Friday afternoon, the prospect of an unofficial X-File before them, she had knocked and he had answered, his shirt not quite on, already talking a mile a minute. A flash of something on his chest, above his heart, had caught her attention as she closed the door. 

“So, we need to be there by five or it’s-”

“Mulder, what is that?” 

“What is what?” he had asked, turning to look at her.

“That on your chest.” 

“My shirt?” he had joked and she had shaken her head, stepping closer to him. 

“Did you… did you get a _tattoo_?” She had looked at him incredulously and he let out a sigh, but did not negate her question. “Mulder? Let me see.” 

“That’s okay. It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? No, it’s not nothing. Let me see.” 

“Scully…” 

“Is it something embarrassing? A spaceship? Or an alien? Is that why? Did the Gunmen get you drunk and take you out recently? Celebrate us getting you out of the Bermuda Triangle?” she had teased and he had shaken his head with a half smile. 

“No, nothing like that.” 

“Then let me see.” She had started to lift his t-shirt but he stopped her, pushing it back down and shaking his head. “Mulder, come on…” 

“Scully, I…” She stared at him and finally he had sighed and nodded with a bit of a grumble. Lifting his shirt over his head, he had held it in his hands, his eyes on hers as she had looked at the darkly inked tattoo on his chest. 

Three letters, about an inch or so, sat close together with a small red heart beside the last one. The font was not overly flowery, but there was beauty in the simplicity of it. It had drawn her closer, her fingers reaching out to touch it, tracing over the letters and speaking them out loud. 

“D, K, S. What is… oh, Mulder.” Her hand had dropped as she realized it was her initials, tattooed on the very spot she had shot him to stop _him_ from shooting Krycek. “Why… what?” 

It was new, something she had never seen before, and her mind had spun as she thought of the implications of why he had done something of that nature. 

“Why?” she had asked and stared at him. 

“I don’t think I really need to say it. I think you know.” 

“I need to hear you say it,” she had whispered and he had smiled with a nod. 

“Of course you do. You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.” He had tossed his shirt onto the couch and taken her hand in his, bringing it back to the tattoo on his chest. 

“D.K.S,” he had said softly, as he traced every letter with her index finger and then the heart, his eyes never leaving hers as she had begun to breathe faster and her heart had pounded. “You saved me that night and countless other times. Over and over, you have done so.” She had taken a deep breath in and tears had stung her eyes. 

“After… after I had been on that boat, when I told you-”

“That you loved me,” she had whispered and he smiled with a nod.

“I know you thought I was drugged up, spent too much time in the water, but…” He had shaken his head, gently rubbing her fingers. “This wasn’t a whim, or a drunken idea. I planned it. Found the place, knew what I wanted.” He had retraced the letters of her initials with her finger and she held her breath. “I wanted you _here…_ always.” 

At the red heart, he had stopped, letting her decide to trace it again, the unspoken meaning of it hanging heavy between them, a decision waiting to be made. Staring at the three initials of her name, his words sinking in, she had blinked back her tears as she exhaled and traced the heart with her finger, his hand holding, but not guiding. 

“Scully,” he had breathed and then his lips were on hers, his kiss soothing and electric all at once. He kept her hand on his chest as the kiss deepened, his other at the back of her neck. 

They had not arrived at their destination by the agreed upon time of 5:00. Nor anywhere else for the next couple of days. 

Tracing the letters and the heart over and over, her head on his chest as he slept, she had smiled. The tattoo had been new enough that she could feel it still slightly raised as she had closed her eyes. 

“I’m glad you like it,” he had whispered, not sleeping after all, and she smiled as she snuggled closer. “That could have gone either way, now that I’m really think about it here.” She had chuckled, shaking her head as his fingers had begun to run lightly across her back. 

“No… I don’t think so. Well, maybe if you had gotten it a couple of years ago.” He had chuckled, the movement reverberating through both of them. She smiled, breathing deep and inhaling his scent. “Even then, well, I would have thought you were crazy, but also… there’s a sexy aspect to it that I would have been unable to deny, even as I fought to do so. Who wouldn’t want to hear that they have been permanently embedded into someone’s heart?”

“Hmm… wouldn’t you argue that’s what love is?” 

“Love is that, yes… but it seems to hold a different weight when it’s been inked upon skin,” she had said softly, kissing his chest, her fingers once more tracing the swirls and loops of the tattoo. He hummed and ran his fingers through her hair. 

“Dana Katherine Scully… on my skin… and under it. Forever.” He had begun to hum “ _I’ve Got You Under My Skin”_ and she had sighed contentedly, her worries about recent events fading. 

She was there, in his bed, his arms, his heart and under his skin. 

Her. 

No one else. 

_________________

Three days. That was the amount of time he could handle being in the hospital. He was still sore, stiff and slow as he walked and did his physical therapy, but he was ready to leave. There was not much the hospital could do medically anyway, he simply needed to heal. 

Scully arrived to take him home and brought him a change of clothes. As she helped him dress, she paused, taking a second to trace his tattoo and kiss the red heart, before kissing his lips softly and lowering his t-shirt. 

“Has anyone said anything?” he asked, as he stood up with a groan and she knew that he meant about the tattoo. Shaking her head, she pulled up his pants, buttoning and zipping them. 

“No one. Though Skinner has seemed extra happy the past couple of days.” She smiled as she reached for his jacket and he slid an arm inside with a snort. 

“I’ve told you, he sweetens the pot. He tells one person and then the whole building knows. He’s a horrible gossip.” He raised his eyebrows and she laughed as he put his other arm in and she adjusted the lapels gently. 

“Well… anyway. I don’t care who knows. It’s been speculated for years, so…” She shrugged and he smiled, his gaze dropping to her lips. She stood on tiptoes and kissed him again before gathering his things. 

They walked out of the room and down the hall slowly, his bag of possessions held in her hand. Her other arm was around his waist, his arm around her shoulder. 

Arriving at the elevator, he moved his arm and brought it to the small of her back, his finger tracing a slow circle against her jacket, right where her own tattoo was permanently embedded in her flesh. The one she had chosen to put where his hand was always drawn, like a magnet. 

He began to hum as his finger continued circling and she smiled, recognizing the tune. 

The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival just before the doors opened and they stepped inside. He continued to hum, staring into her eyes as they waited for the doors to close. 

When they did, she wrapped her arms around him gently, her head resting against his chest and the tattoo. His hand once more pulled to _his_ spot and they swayed slowly as the elevator began its descent. 

“ _I've got you under my skin. I've got you, deep in the heart of me. So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me. I've got you under my skin,”_ he sang quietly, and she smiled, his finger again circling slowly. 

Breaking apart as the elevator slowed down, he grasped her hand and laced their fingers together, winking at her as they stepped out and walked slowly through the lobby. She smiled as she squeezed his hand, not caring if anyone saw, her happiness unable to be contained. 

_I've got you under my skin,_ she thought, hearing his voice singing it in her head. She glanced at him and shook her head with a smile. 

_If that ain’t the truth…_

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the original prompt. I’m pretty proud that got it all added in there. 😊 Thanks Kisha- this one was fun. ❤️
> 
> “Mulder is injured and when his shirt is removed it is discovered that he has the initials DKS over his heart, a tattoo covering a scar from some previous injury. It could be Scully seeing it for the first time, unaware of it being there, but preferably revealed in the presence of other agents or law enforcement, bonus for the audience being Fowley and/or Skinner. Or it could be Scully already knows (secret established MSR maybe) but had forgotten the tattoo and the audience in her urgency to assess an injured Mulder.”
> 
> Also, the song Mulder hums and sings is “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by Frank Sinatra.


End file.
